Monday, August 24, 2015

Is Hillary Clinton getting close to her “Sell By” date ? ? ?

The center of gravity for the Hillary Clinton campaign for President is reaching a tipping point — some might say it’s already there Hillary was even convinced to cut her “VACATION” short — In order to start working on a “Fire Wall” in Ohio — Just the way she did in 2008 against Barack Obama — Hmmmm !

In the hustle and bustle of all the things raining down on Hillary Clinton’s head last week — a week that some thought ranked up there as “Hillary Clinton’s Worst Week Ever” with losing the nomination to Obama in 2008 and hearing that Monica still had her blue dress — I think I missed something that really needed reporting. If this were posted as a “Comment,” it would either be marked “UPDATE & BACKFILL” — Or possibly, just “BACKFILL.”

Even on a day when the big news was the world-wide financial melt-down, one international finance journal was still talking about Hillary Clinton’s faltering campaign for President. According to Martin Matishak of “The Fiscal Times” — “The ongoing din over Hillary Clinton’s use of private email server during her tenure as Secretary of State has grown so loud that Democratic Party stalwarts have begun to openly wonder whether she will even be their nominee next year, something unthinkable just a few short months ago....” ( See “Democrats Are Openly Speculating About an Election without Hillary Clinton” by Martin Matishak, 8/24/15, The Fiscal Times [http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2015/08/24/Democrats-Are-Openly-Speculating-About-Election-without-Hillary-Clinton]).

That article went on to say this: “.... Buzz about a [V.P. Joseph] Biden presidential run has increased in recent weeks, as questions over Clinton’s personal server continue to haunt her candidacy. Numerous surveys show she has lost ground in several key battleground states [tonight a poll showed HRC slipping behind Jeb Bush in Michigan, with Donald Trump close behind nipping at her heels]....” And “.... [Mean]while the vice president’s numbers among core Democratic constituencies have risen....”

CANDIDATE MARTIN O’MALLEY SAYS HILLARY’S E-MAILS AND PRIVATE SERVER ARE LEGITIMATE ISSUES FOR THE GOP AND THE MEDIA

Another devastating item in the Fiscal Times article involved Democratic Presidential candidate Martin O’Malley. According to the Maishak-Fiscal Times piece, cited above, “.... [F]ormer Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, who is running against Clinton but whose polls numbers have been stuck in the single digits, said the GOP and the media are right to ask the former secretary of state about her email arrangement.... ‘So long as our Democratic Party is not talking about the issues that matter most around the kitchen table, the only question that will be asked every day, and it’s a legitimate question, by media people like yourself, or by the Republicans, are questions about Hillary Clinton's emails,’ O’Malley said on ABC’s This Week.... ‘Those are questions that I will leave to her and to her lawyers to answer,” he added. ‘But as a party, we need to wake up and we need to have start having debates about the issues that really matter....’ ” [The O’Malley comments, mentioned herein immediately above were previously discussed on this blog yesterday in a thread to a post below (See my 8/23/15 comment, “UPDATE: THE “ONCE IN A BLUE MOON COMMENT ABOUT A CBS COMMENTARY” EDITION” to my 8/22/15 post, “THE LATEST HILLARY CLINTON "ROLL-OUT" A NEW THREE-PRONG STRATEGY TO GET PAST THE E-MAILS ISSUE”]

Last Thursday, Wesley Pruden at the Washington Tomes said this : “Hillary Clinton may think those creatures making wide, gentle circles over her campaign are bluebirds of happiness, but they’re looking more and more like buzzards. They look hungry...." (See “The birds circling over Hillary Clinton” by Wesley Pruden, 8/20/15, The Washington Times [http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/aug/20/wesley-pruden-hillary-clintons-dying-campaign/]).

IS THE FBI ABOUT TO MAKE IT’S “SECURITY INVESTIGATION” INTO HILLARY CLINTON’S E-MAILS AND PRIVATE SERVER INTO A “CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION” ?

The most important single item in Wesley Pruden’s long and detailed analysis of Hillary Clinton’s deepening crisis over her E-mails is this: “.... [T]he FBI is investigating more than a security situation, defined as a simple matter of learning whether classified information leaked from the State Department when she was the secretary of State, and if so, who it was leaked to. National Public Radio, which usually feeds only the bluebirds of Democratic happiness, reports that it learned from “two lawyers familiar with the inquiry” that a formal criminal investigation is under consideration, presumably at the Justice Department, and it could happen ‘soon.’... Hillary might not be the first target. She can always find somebody else to throw under the bus or feed to the alligators....”

According to the report of that on the NPR web page, “For now, federal authorities characterize the Justice Department inquiry into Hillary Clinton's private email server as a security situation: a simple matter of finding out whether classified information leaked out during her tenure as secretary of state, and where it went.... Except, former government officials said, that's not going to be so simple.... ‘I think that the FBI will be moving with all deliberate speed to determine whether there were serious breaches of national security here,’ said Ron Hosko, who used to lead the FBI's criminal investigative division....” (See “Government Inquiry Into Clinton Emails Likely To Widen” by Carrie Johnson, 8/19/15, NPR/ npr.org [http://www.npr.org/2015/08/19/432908987/government-inquiry-into-clinton-emails-likely-to-widen]).

The NPR article also said this: “.... Two lawyers familiar with the inquiry told NPR that a formal criminal investigation is under consideration and could happen soon — although they caution that Clinton herself may not be the target....”

FOR THE CLINTON FOLKS, IT'S LIKE THEY ARE ALREADY MAKING THEIR PITCH TO A JURY — BUT JUST WHAT KIND OF JURY WILL BE HEARING THIS ? ? ?

According to NPR, “.... The Clinton campaign maintains that Clinton did nothing wrong, that the government inquiry would not move beyond a ‘security-related review’ and points a finger at a ‘culture of classification’ within the intelligence community.... "She was at worst a passive recipient of unwitting information that subsequently became deemed as classified," said Brian Fallon, Clinton campaign press secretary, in a conference call Wednesday with reporters, per NPR's Tamara Keith. "When it comes to classified information, the standards are not at all black and white, and in the absence of markings that officially designate something classified, reasonable people each taking their responsibilities extremely seriously, can nonetheless disagree on the character of the information they are dealing with — and both could be completely justified in that perspective....”

THE NPR ARTICLE CONCLUDED WITH THIS

“.... As the campaign intensifies, the FBI and its director, James Comey, will be operating in an environment filled with political sensitivity. But it won't be the first time.... ‘The FBI won't be ignorant to the political realities,... but they have a job to do, they know that job, they've done it before, they will do it here.’...”

Hillary Clinton and the Clinton Campaign can’t take comfort in any part of that.

HILLARY’S CAMPAIGN PROS KNOW THAT THEY HAVE BIG PROBLEMS — THEY ARE ALREADY SETTING UP “FIRE WALLS” IN PLACES LIKE OHIO

Not long ago it was announced that HRC would cut short her “vacation” in the Hamptons and get back on tothe campaign trail. According to a local Ohio blog, “Hillary Clinton will lead a grassroots organizing rally Thursday morning at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.... [The] event, which is open to the public, will be the Democratic presidential candidate's first official political visit to Ohio since announcing her candidacy in April.... ‘During the event, Clinton and volunteers will be asking supporters to fill out a “Commit to Vote” card, pledging to vote for Hillary in the Ohio primary next year,’ her campaign said Monday in an advisory confirming details of the visit....” (See “Hillary Clinton will campaign Thursday at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland” by Henry J. Gomez, 8/24/15, Northeast Ohio Media Group [http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2015/08/hillary_clinton_will_campaign.html]).

According to the report, “.... The trip has been on Clinton's schedule since early August. But it comes as she faces more questions about her private email server and as speculation swirls about Vice President Joe Biden's possible candidacy.... A recent Quinnipiac University poll shows Clinton leading all challengers in the Buckeye State. But her numbers have dropped. Sixty percent of all voters surveyed said they don't find her "honest and trustworthy," up from 53 percent in June. And a majority -- 54 percent -- have an unfavorable opinion of Clinton.... Ohio was a big firewall for Clinton in her 2008 race for the Democratic presidential nomination, giving her a big win over Barack Obama at a crucial point....”

4 comments:

KEY HILLARY CLINTON AIDES TO BE QUESTIONED BY TREY GOWDY’S HOUSE SELECT COMMITTEE ON BEGHAZI IN EARLY SEPTEMBER — HILLARY SCHEDULED FOR OCTOBER 22nd

CHERYL MILLS AND JAKE SULLIVAN TO BE QUESTIONED ON SEPTEMBER 3rd & 4th RESPECTIVELY

According to a report that appeared on the MSNBC web, “Two of Hillary Clinton’s top aides will sit for interviews before the House Benghazi Select Committee next week, committee aides confirm to NBC news. These will be closed to the press.... Cheryl Mills - who served as Clinton’s chief of staff at the State Department - will be interviewed on Thurs. Sept. 3.... Jake Sullivan - who helped lay the groundwork for the Iran nuclear deal and now serves as a top foreign policy advisor on her campaign - will be interviewed on Fri. Sept. 4th.... Hillary Clinton herself is scheduled to testify during a public hearing before the Committee on October 22....”(See “Two Clinton aides to testify before House Benghazi Select Committee” by Alex Moe, 8/25/15, MSNBC/ NBC News [http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/two-clinton-aides-testify-house-benghazi-select-committee]).

THE ATLANTIC MAGAZINE IMPLIES THAT V.P. JOSEPH BIDEN’S LATE MOVE AGAINST HILLARY CLINTON AND HER CANDIDACY SHOWS THAT HE HAS INSIDE INFO ABOUT HILLARY’S PROBLEMS — AND THAT THEY ARE LIKELY TO GET WORSE

“AS THE VICE PRESIDENT EDGES TOWARD A PRESIDENTIAL RUN, IS HE BANKING ON FURTHER DISCLOSURES TO DISCREDIT THE FRONTRUNNER [HILLARY CLINTON]....” --- THE ATLANTIC MAGAZINE

“As Joe Biden edges closer to a presidential run, there’s no shortage of theories as to what he’s up to. Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton has built a commanding lead in the national polls, giving Biden little apparent space to gain traction. Perhaps he’s counting on the early-primary state of South Carolina to provide a critical boost. He might be banking on appearing as a stronger general-election candidate than any of his potential rivals in the primary race. Maybe after spending the past 42 years of his life running for elective office, he just can’t stop.... But there’s one intriguing theory that has so far garnered little attention: What if Biden knows something about Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton that the rest of us don’t?...” (See “What Does Joe Biden Know?” by Yoni Applebaum, 8/26/15, The Atlantic [http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/08/joe-biden-hillary-clinton-email/402448/]).

The more important part of the article is this: “.... The White House has reportedly monitored the situation since before the questions over Clinton’s email became public. And the State Department has assigned a team to sort through the emails, reviewing them for classified information.... Clinton, and her loyalists, insist that the email probe is a distraction, and that there is no evidence that she deliberately broke any rules, much less violated the law.... If that’s not the case, though—if the emails contain revelations that are embarrassing, or worse—there’s a limited number of people who might be in a position to know it. Clinton’s own aides top the list. So do various White House officials.... And then, of course, there’s the State Department. Biden forged many relationships during his long tenure in the Senate, and State is chock full of longtime friends and former aides....”

And the article in “The Atlantic” concludes on this note: “... [I]f Biden seems more confident than most pundits that Hillary Clinton’s nomination isn’t inevitable, it may reflect more than his natural ebullience and legendary optimism. It may be a sign that he’s banking on voters learning things that he already knows.”

WHY IS IT THAT IT’S ONLY THE “HILLARY CLINTON E-MAIL SCANDAL” AND IT’S NOT ALSO “THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES’ SCANDAL INVOLVING HIS SECRETARY OF STATE’S USE OF UN-SECURE E-MAILS” ? ? ?

OR, TO PUT IT ANOTHER WAY, WHAT DID THE WHITE HOUSE KNOW AND WHEN DID IT KNOW IT ? ? ?

If Hillary Clinton exclusively were using a personal email address for all communications personal and official while she was the U.S. Secretary of State; within a few weeks of her taking that post, wouldn’t literally hundreds of government officials inside and outside of the U.S. State Department have become fully aware that her E-mail address or tag did not contain the traditional and iconic “.gov.” anywhere within it ? ? ? [Think about that; not a single alarm bell or even the slightest “WTF”.... ]

Yet does any “evidence” [or even rumor] exist that, in her entire four years tenure as Secretary of State, during which Hillary Clinton admittedly sent and received hundreds of thousands of relatively insecure “official” E-mails, not a single person at the National Security Agency or at any other intelligence agency even became aware of her hinky E-mails system; much less, did anybody contact Hillary Clinton to inquire about the security of her personal email address and/or whether it was associated with a separate server in some closet somewhere; and certainly least of all, formally initiated some kind of mandatory national security fix through the National Security Council and the White House, or even quietly, through informal channels politely proposed some interim remedial steps to the then Secretary of State so as to secure her E-mails..

I’ve trolled this story a lot and I’ve seen nothing like that. — And I have to ask just like Dayton Allen did on the old Steve Allan Show, “WHY NOT ?” – or I guess that should be – “WHOOOWY NOT !”

For example, we know that some of HRC’s E-mails went to the likes of David Axelrod, while he was an operative at the White House. In spite of some brief statements by Valerie Jarrett that Hillary Clinton’s E-mail system violated rules put in place by the White House, it has not been explained how Hillary’s E-mails system and methodology went without notice or any earlier comment.

[The idea for this “QUERY” came from a “Letter to the Editor” in the Los Angeles Times (See “Readers React Hillary Clinton's emails caused no real harm, so why the fuss?” letter by Mark E. Kalmansohn, Santa Monica, published 8/27/15, LA Times/ Letters to the Editor {http://www.latimes.com/opinion/readersreact/la-le-0827-thursday-hillary-clinton-emails-20150827-story.html}).]

About Me

I formerly have commented on various political blogs concerning Republican politics. Although the focus of my political commentary has been on the Brooklyn GOP and other aspects of politics in Brooklyn, I have also posted commentary about national matters.
If you wish to contact Galewyn Massey directly, please, Email to galewynmasban@gmail.com